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High School Sports

Junior Panthers lead girls volleyball championship series

Madison Harrington (left) of Paris District High School spikes the ball as St. John's College defenders Claire Perras (centre) and Sophia Dionisio go up for the block during Game 1 of the high school junior girls volleyball final on Tuesday. (Brian Thompson/The Expositor)

Paris District High School overcame some nerves to capture the opening game in the Brant County high school best-of-three junior girls volleyball championship series.

Playing at St. John's College on Tuesday, the Panthers defeated the Green Eagles 25-8, 26-24 and 25-23 to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Game 2 will be on Thursday at 4 p.m., with Game 3, if necessary, on Friday at 4 p.m. Both games will be at St. John's

"Our first (set) was more like we usually play," said Paris coach Sandy Beedham.

"The second and third, we were playing a little bit of a nervous ball game but we settled into it. We tried to remember our three words were cool, calm and confident and that played out in the end."

Paris came into the final as heavy favourites as three-time defending champions. Paris also finished first in the regular season with just a single loss - to Brantford Collegiate Institute.

While BCI earned that regular-season win, the loss was partially attributed to star Paris player Leah Kruis getting injured before the game.

Beedham is pleased with the team's overall play this season.

"We're a mix of club girls and new girls who are interested in playing volleyball," said the coach.

On Tuesday, things started on the right foot for St. John's as it scored the first point in the best-of-five match but Paris responded to grab a 4-1 lead.

Eagles player Maddy O'Neill stopped that run with a nice defensive play.

However, the Panthers didn't let up. Following some great serving from Amma Nolson and then Kate Sitak, Paris pushed its way into an 11-3 advantage. Kruis then got a couple of huge smashes as the Panthers moved into a 21-6 lead on their way to the 1-0 lead .

The Eagles didn't give up. In fact, St. John's took an early 11-8 lead in the second set with some great serving from Delaney Garlow.

Paris eventually went back out front 14-13 when Sitak had a hit through the middle. But, with the score 20-19 for the Panthers, Eagles server Juliette Mawhinney notched an ace to even things.

With Paris two points from winning the set, St. John's battled back, eventually getting ahead 24-23. However, after tying the score, Kruis went to the service line for the Panthers and put away the game.

In the second set, St. John's got strong play from Claire Perras and Lauren Marcos while Ella Stowe set well for Paris.

Trailing 2-0 in the match, St. John's once again got off to a hot start building leads of 3-0, 7-3 and 15-8. But, once again, the Panthers didn't panic and found a way to eliminate the deficit, going ahead 18-17 following a 10-2 run.

Although St. John's tied the game 23-23, Paris grabbed the win with Kruis on the service line.

St. John's coach Sharon Boyd said her players knew they were in tough.

"That whole team is almost all club and it's a club coach," Boyd said of Paris. "We lost to them twice in the regular season.

"I think it took us a while to get in a groove."

Regardless of the outcome in the series, St. John's will be going to the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association AAA championship on Feb. 22 in Waterloo, which Boyd said is an honour.

Now she'd like to see the Eagles carry over some momentum into Game 2 of the Brant County final on Thursday.

"I think now they believe they can play with Paris," Boyd said. "We might have lost but I think the momentum is with us.